The present invention relates to the field of retaining wall structures, and more particularly to elements for retaining wall structures, and to a method for retaining walls.
Various techniques for retaining walls are known. According to one such technique, wall elements are anchored to the ground by means of suitable strips, nets or cables. This technique necessitates, however, the existence of solid ground in the vicinity of the wall, into which ground an anchoring unit is anchored. Another technique utilizes anchor units attached to the wall by means of tie members. The disadvantage of this technique resides in the fact that the stability of the wall depends mainly on the resistant force of the filling soil or backfill behind the wall and the anchor units. This force constitutes only a small portion of the weight of the backfill, and therefore there is no real utilization of the backfill""s potential weight in supporting the wall.
It is therefore a broad object of the present invention to ameliorate the disadvantages of prior art techniques for building retaining walls and to provide elements for retaining walls which are operable to enhance their stability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide wall-retaining elements having superior anchoring capabilities and which are suitable for utilization in retaining walls having limited backfill space.
In accordance with the present invention, there is therefore provided a wall-retaining element comprising a three-dimensional body having a bottom portion including a major base surface positionable upon the ground in spaced-apart relationship to a wall to be retained such that the plane of said bottom portion traverses the plane of the wall; a major surface to be covered with soil for applying pressure to said element, and means for attaching one end of a tie rod or a cable to said element and for attaching its other end to said wall.
The invention further provides a method for retaining a wall structure, said method comprising providing a wall-retaining element comprising a three-dimensional body having a bottom portion including a major base surface positionable upon the ground in spaced-apart relationship to a wall to be retained such that the plane of said bottom portion traverses the plane of the wall; a major surface to be covered with soil for applying pressure to said element, and means for attaching one end of a tie rod or a cable to said element and for attaching its other end to said wall; positioning said element at a distance from the wall to be retained; connecting a portion of said wall to said element by means of a tie rod or cable; and covering said element with soil, so that, upon the application of a tensioning force to said tie rod or cable, the element will tend to move in a direction against the force applied to the major surface of said element by the soil, thereby retaining said wall structure.